First carefully study the various reading assignments listed in the COURSE SCHEDULE for Tuesday, March 18th through Tuesday, April 1st.  Taken together these readings will enable you to gain an appreciation of the range of cultural development taking place in urban Japan during the Early Modern Period. Be sure that you fully understand this historical / cultural context in its entirety before proceeding. (These readings will themselves be the subject of extended discussion in class and that your own independent research for this project will contribute to the success of these individual discussions as well.) 

NOTE: You might also want to search out and page through EDO: Art in Japan, 1615 - 1868, an exhibition catalog published in conjunction with a major exhibit held between November 1998 and February 1999 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.  

An online report of a follow-up conference held in New York City, EXPANDING EDO ART, available on the Internet, might also be useful in providing an overview of where scholarly thinking currently rests with regard to the modernization process and its effect on early modern art in Japan. 

Another interesting set of related links can be found on a course web page of student projects completed for a course at Columbia University on Buildings and Cities in Japanese History: the Golden Century, 1562 - 1657.

Robert Peeling has located another useful introductory overview of Edo Period art at the Web Museum.

Beyond describing the individual and his accomplishments, work to place the person you have chosen within an analytical frame focused on him as an example of a particular facet of the modernization process at work within the urban cultural world of Tokugawa Period Japan. Consider, for example, how and to what degree he represented the process of cultural change and development found in the general popular cultural mix of the times in which he lived. Examine as well how he fit into the specific arena (woodblock prints, poetry, drama) of which he might be considered "representative".  

Ask questions, too, about how he build on (or rejected) cultural standards and ideals inherited from the past. What new increments did he add to the Tokugawa popular cultural mix? How important a figure is he in coming to a modern day appreciation of the modernization processes underway in urban Japan during his lifetime? during the Tokugawa period in general?  

Listed below are major figures associated with the townsman-dominated Floating World cultural style of Early Modern Japan. A great deal has been written about each of these men, so you should have little trouble locating biographical and descriptive information about them and their work. You may chose another individual if you wish but make certain you have access to sufficient information about that person to enable you to make the analytical assessment demanded by the assignment.  

• IHARA SAIKAKU, author
• CHIKAMATSU MONZAEMON, playwright
• HIROSHIGE KATSUSHIKA, woodblock print artist
• HOKUSAI UTAGAWA (ANDO), woodblock print artist
• UTAMARO KITAGAWA, woodblock print artist
• BASHO MATSUO, poet
• BUSON YOSA, poet

The resulting brief (three to five page) annotated analytical essay is due Tuesday, April 1, 2008. Your completed project will be evaluated according to a set of specific standards applicable to this particular research project. Be sure as well to consult the Department of History Style Sheet for information about standards applicable to any written work submitted as part of course requirements within the Department of History.  

You should also be prepared to discuss insights gained from the research project during the course of our in-class discussions of the Floating World between Tuesday, March 18th and Tuesday, April 1st.